NATIONAL RAILROAD ADJUSTMENT BOARD
Nathan Engelatein, Referee
PARTIES TO DISPUTE:
TRANSPORTATION-COMMUNICATION EMPLOYEES UNION
(Formerly The Order of Railroad Telegraphers)
MISSOURI PACIFIC RAILROAD COMPANY
STATEMENT OF CLAIM:
Claim of the General Committee of the
Transportation-Communication Employees Union (formerly The Order of
Railroad Telegraphers) on the Missouri Pacific Railroad (Gulf District), that:
1. Carrier violated the Telegraphers' Agreement when on the
4th day of December 1963 it required Telegrapher R. D. Strong, after
completing vacation assignment, to be forced to return to home station and refused to allow deadhead time from Kingsville to Houston,
Texas; also, on the 8th day of December 1963, Carrier refused to allow
deadhead time from Houston to Kingsville, Texas to protect vacation
assignment beginning December 9, 1963.
2. Carrier shall compensate Telegrapher R. D. Strong five (5)
hours and fifty (50) minutes at the applicable rate at Kingsville for
deadhead time from Kingsville to Houston, Texas on December 4,
1963; also, compensate Telegrapher R. D. Strong five (5) hours and
fifty (50) minutes at the applicable rate at Kingsville for deadhead
time from Houston to Kingsville, Texas on December 8, 1963 to protect vacation assignment beginning December 9, 1963.
Or, the alternative of:
3. Carrier compensating Telegrapher R. D. Strong at the rate of
$10.00 per day for room and board at Kingsville, Texas due to
Carrier requiring Mr. Strong to remain at Kingsville during the period
of December 4 through December 8, 1963 without compensation in
order to protect a vacation assignment beginning on December 9, 1963,
depriving Mr. Strong of his right to return to home station during the
interim between two assignments.
EMPLOYES' STATEMENT OF FACTS: Extra Telegrapher R. D. Strong
was instructed by message dated November 18, 1963, as follows: Mr. R. D.
Strong, please arrange to protect night chief's position "K" Office, Kingsville,
11:45 P. M., November 22 through December 3; also manager's position
7:45 A. M., December 9 through December 27, acknowledge. J. C. Morrow. See
~ORT Exhibit 1.
7 and 8. The vacation period of the two positions in 'K' Office at
Kingsville were back-to-back except for the rest days intervening.
It is your position that Claimant is entitled to deadhead pay for
returning to his home in Houston on the rest days of the positions on
which he was relieving because the rest days were back-to-back. You
attempted to treat the instructions as separate acts in order to support such a position.
The Claimant was instructed, November 18, 1963, to protect the
Third Trick position and the Manager's position in 'K' Office at
Kingsville. He is required to take the rest days of the positions, which
he did, December 5, 6, 7, and 8, 1963; therefore, there is no support
for the claim of deadhead from Kingsville to Houston and return to
protect the Manager's position beginning December 9, 1963. There is
no rule providing payment of expenses to extra telegraphers under
the circumstances here present.
In view of the foregoing, claim is without rule support and is
hereby declined.
Yours truly,
/s/ B. W. Smith"
In rejecting the decision of the Director of Labor Relations, under date
of March 27, 1964, the Employes further stated:
"Telegrapher Strong completed an assignment on December 4,
1963, and was entitled to return to his home station and be compensated accordingly. By the same token he was entitled to compensation
from home station to work another assignment. Even though the rest
days of the positions might be back-to-back as you describe them the
fact remains Telegrapher Strong had the prerogative to return to his
home station and not remain at Kingsville and incur expenses in the
amount of $10.00 per day during this interim due to Carrier's lack
of foresight in arranging their vacation forces accordingly."
The Carrier readily admits Claimant "had the prerogative" to return to
his home at Houston on the rest days of the positions he was assigned to
protect in order not to incur expenses by having to remain in Kingsville;
however, the rule relied upon does not give him this prerogative at the
expense of the Carrier. It is clear from the language contained in Rule 25(e)
that deadhead will be allowed only for going to and from an assignment.
OPINION OF BOARD:
R. D. Strong was used as an extra Telegrapher
to relieve the occupants of the Night Chief and Manager positions in the
Kingsville, Texas, Relay Office during their vacations. The third shift Night
Chief assignment began at 11:45 P. M. on November 22, 1963, and extended
through the December 3rd shift which terminated with the tour of duty concluding at 7:45 A. M., December 4, 1963. The first shift Manager position
started at 7:45 A. M. on December 9, 1963 and extended through December 27,
1963. Mr. Strong was allowed compensation for deadhead time from his
headquarters at Houston, Texas to Kingsville, Texas on November 22, and
from Kingsville to Houston, December 27, 1963.
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After filling the first vacation assignment, Mr. Strong traveled from
Kingsville to his headquarters at Houston, and on December 8, he returned
to Kingsville. He claims he is entitled to deadhead time for these two trips
on the grounds that he covered two separate assignments. He cites Rule 25 (e)
to support his argument. It is his position that when an assignment is finished,
Carrier has an obligation to deadhead an employe back to his headquarters.
Carrier on the other hand claims there is no rule in the Agreement to
support a claim for deadhead compensation when the trip is taken without
its authority. It points oat that Mr. Strong returned to Houston, his residence,
for his own benefit and convenience during the rest days of the positions he
worked, December 5, 6, 7 and 8. The two rest days of the second position
worked, it states, were consecutive with the two rest days of the first position worked.
The message dated November 18 with instructions to Mr. Strong to protect vacation positions was a directive to cover two separate assignments at
one office in Kingsville. The first assignment terminated at the end of his
tour of duty 7:45 A. M. on December 4, and the second assignment did not
begin until December 9 at 7:45 A. M. Claimant was not assigned to work the
position on Saturday and Sunday, December 7 and 8, the rest days of the
second assignment. December 5 and 6 can be accounted for as rest days for the
first assignment and even if December 7 and 8 are considered as rest days
for the second assignment, December 4 was not a rest day nor a day on which
Claimant worked. Thus, there was an interval between the assignments and
they cannot be considered as consecutive or back to back assignments.
For these reasons the claim for deadhead time from Kingsville to Houston
and return to Kingsville is sustained.
FINDINGS: The Third Division of the Adjustment Board, upon the whole
record and all the evidence, finds and holds:
That the parties waived oral hearing;
That the Carrier and the Employes involved in this dispute are respectively Carrier and Employes within the meaning of the Railway Labor Act,
as approved June 21, 1934;
That this Division of the Adjustment Board has jurisdiction over the
dispute involved herein; and
That the Agreement was violated.
NATIONAL RAILROAD ADJUSTMENT BOARD
By Order of THIRD DIVISION
ATTEST: S. H. Schulty
Executive Secretary
Dated at Chicago, Illinois, this 18th day of April 1969.
Keenan Printing Co., Chicago, Ill. Printed in U.S.A.
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